Guilty as charged.
Posted by: mjamja
on Jan-11-13 11:34 AM (EST)
Yes I am in Corpus. Mostly paddling an Impex Force Cat3. The Mariner Elan is kind of my camping kayak (since it does not have bulkheads) and I have not been doing that much camping lately. Acutally have not been doing much paddling at all recently.
Van Doren and Stamer definitely have different approaches to the GP stroke. I have taken lessons from both of them. Doug emphasizes a really short stroke well out in front of your body. In that respect it has a lot in common with much of what is taught for Euro strokes. That allows you to get some pretty fast stroke rates. I always tell people that if you want to use Doug's technique one of the things you have to do is to remember to take the paddle out of the water about 1/4 of a second before you put it in :). Greg teaches a much longer and more vertical stroke. I often switch between the 2 styles for a little change of pace. I like Greg's method more when going into strong winds and like Doug's in light winds or when running downwind.
Mark